The Light and the Life of the Local Church

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  (John 1:4)

Heinrich Emil Brunner (12/23/89 – 4/06/66), a Swiss Reformed theologian once said, “The church exists as a mission the way a fire exists by burning.”  What Brunner was saying was this: when the local church ceases to burn with the fire of the Holy Spirit it ceases to exist. Fires provide (1) heat, (2) light and a means for cooking (3) food. The first manifestation of the Holy Spirit experienced by the first century came in the form of fire, as we find chronicled in Acts 2:1-3. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

(1) The heat of a campfire on a chilly evening has always been something that draws people together, like moths to a flame, to sing, laugh and share “old war stories.” Too often our churches are emotionally cold and unattractive and they do little to draw people together to sing, worship and hear the Gospel preached. The attraction should not come from the size of the sanctuary but rather the enormity of love in the hearts of the members. What draws people should not be the sound of music but the expressions of love on the faces and actions of the members. Warm hearts, warm smiles and warm hugs will go a long way to attract new folks into our fellowship. All of that warmth radiates from the Holy Spirit who abides in our souls. The psalmist said You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. (Psalm 18:28)

(2) The light of truth is preached from the pulpit of old North Church every Sunday and taught in the Sunday school classes as well. The psalmist also tells us that the light of God’s Word is what guides his steps. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119.105) By learning of and growing through the light of truth we will enjoy the fullness of life that Christ promised all who put their trust in Him (John 10:10) This is a world of spiritual darkness in which we live, and we need the light of God’s Word to find our way. John put it this way, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

(3) The food that feeds our soul comes from the Bible. The capacity to understand that Word and feed upon it comes from the Holy Spirit. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:12-14)

“We burn the sweetest incense in His sight when we are aflame with Holy Piety and Love.” (Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Circa 391 AD)

The life of the local church is in its people. The life of the people is in the Holy Spirit who keeps them on fire through the Word. If the Word ever ceases to be preached in any church, spiritual starvation ensues, the Spirit filled members leave, the ecclesiastical fires go out and the local church succumbs to spiritual night and when the custodian turns of the lights for the last time it passes into literal darkness.